We met with Raw foodie, chef and best-selling author, Doris Choi to demystify the Raw movement. Here she gives us her delicious recipe for spicy sushi that is raw-foodie friendly and tastes too good to be healthy, served recently at her raw food supper club hosted with Domini Kemp at Dublin’s Alchemy Juice Co., BT2.
I use roasted red peppers mixed with my favourite condiment, sriracha (a type of hot sauce or chilli sauce Tesco have an own brand version) to make “spicy tuna” so this recipe is not entirely raw. You can also steam or blanch the peppers just enough to remove the skins and make the peppers more soft, pliable and willing to absorb the sriracha. The pepper really does mimic the texture and mouthfeel of tuna!
Jicama (a mexican turnip) is naturally sweet and crunchy and is a great substitute for recipes that call for sushi rice. Make sure to peel away the rough outer layers using a hand peeler, until the smooth white flesh is exposed. Roughly chop the peeled jicama into 1-inch cubes. Pulse the jicama in a food processor until it resembles short-grain rice (at least 6 to 8 pulses). Jicama has a high water content, so you will need to wring the excess moisture out of it using a multi-layered cheesecloth or thin kitchen towel. You can save the sweet, milky jicama juice if desired for other recipes. Like cauliflower rice, jicama rice can also be prepped in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container for several days. 1 large jicama makes 3 to 4 cups. Blended cauliflower could also be used as a substitute for the jicama rice.
Raw spicy “tuna” sushi
Ingredients
- 2 red bell peppers, each pepper cored, seeded, and sliced into 4 equal pieces
- 1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
- 4 nori sheets
- 1 avocado, pitted, peeled, and sliced into thin strips
- 2 scallions, halved and sliced (white and green parts)
- 1 large cucumber, julienned
- 4 cups Jicama Rice
- 3 tablespoons nama shoyu
- 1 teaspoon wasabi paste
To make the sushi…
1. Lay the pepper pieces on a baking tray, skin side up, and place two inches from a broiler. Broil under high heat until the skin chars (about 10 minutes).
2. Transfer the peppers to a bowl, cover with a plate, and let cool before peeling off the skins. Slice into ¼-inch-thick strips and mix with the sriracha sauce.
3. Place a nori sheet on top of a sushi mat. Add 1 cup of Jicama Rice in an even layer on the lower half of the sheet. On the rice, add some avocado strips in a row and top with some spiced red pepper strips, cucumber, and scallions.
4. Start rolling the nori with the mat from the bottom half, tucking the rice inward. Keep using your mat to secure and tighten until you reach the top. Moisten the edge of the nori sheet with water to seal. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for all four nori rolls.
5. Cut each roll into 8 equal pieces, and serve with nama shoyu and wasabi paste on the side.
Here’s a quick demo for rolling sushi…
